*This series of photos were from a recent shoo I did with Tess Wicks from Wander Wealthy*

Today I decided to throw a little tidbit of knowledge your way. Since we’re in the midst of the holiday season, influencer campaigns are now in full swing. Which means there’s no better time to talk about my personal experience with influencer marketing. I’ve been involved in influencer marketing for the past three years and have seen the landscape slowly change. It’s become a vital part of any brands marketing strategy and with the overflow of influencers all wanting their own slice of the pie, brands have had to become more conscious of the influencers they work with.

Slowly but surely, companies have come to realize influencer marketing is a vital part of a strong, well-rounded marketing plan. Between working with bloggers/influencers on the content creation side, in addition to the brand side, I’d like to believe I have a solid grasp on what makes up influencer marketing. However, since this world is so new and ever-changing, that might change tomorrow. But for now, I want to share my knowledge, mostly from the perspective of someone who works for a small/medium sized brand (you may have heard of a little company called Ello).

So, what do brands look for when wanting to partner with influencers on a campaign? How does one get noticed by a brand? I’m hear to answer all of these burning questions.

Elements brands looks for when partnering with an influencer:

Authentic Follower Numbers:

Today’s influencer marketing landscape is overwhelming. Brands spend countless hours going through accounts checking for a handful of different elements. For example, you will pull up someone’s account and see they have a large number of followers, this might seem enticing at first but once you start to dig deeper there’s a few things they quickly notice:

Likes on a photos: Say someone has 24,000 followers and only an average of 150 likes on each photos — what does this say? Either that their audience is not engaged with their content or they have purchased followers. Buying followers has become a major issue on all social platforms, but more specifically Instagram. Granted Instagram has started to crack down on the sites that allow people to buy followers and likes, it’s still a major issue.

Engagement on a post: It’s one thing to see a bunch of comments on a post but dig a little deeper. Looking at who on those who are commenting on the post, it’s easy to spot if those accounts look fishy…it’s highly likely are they’re bot accounts and inauthentic as well. It’s important to note, brands do their research, especially smaller companies who want to make sure their marketing dollars being spend in the most efficient way.

Content: Does every post include some kind of brand partnerships? How authentic do you think this feels to the audience? If you’re continuously posting brand partnerships, your followers aren’t idiots they realize you’re getting paid by the brands. This makes the partnership feel less authentic, and in return might turn your followers away from your account or the products you’re promoting.

Consistency Throughout All Platforms

It’s confusing to brands when they see beautiful images on an influencer’s Instagram account and then head to their blog, only to see short post with bad grammar and subpar content. If the photos are dark/bad lighting, this doesn’t paint a good picture in the brand’s mind. Not to mention, lessen the chances of them working with said influencers.

Easy Flow of Communication

Okay so you’ve been sent an email from a brand asking for rate, now what? Send them an email as soon as you read it, especially if you’re interested in the project and feel it aligns with your personal brand. Chances are they have a long list of influencers they’re interested in working with. It’s just a matter of who responds and what there rates are.

In addition, when working on a partnership, the amount of emails is insane. In order to make everyone’s life easier, brands greatly appreciate someone who is able to communicate in a timely manner. Yes, we all get busy but it shouldn’t take someone two weeks to respond to a brands email (unless stated in automatic reply email) confirming your go live date. Can you tell I’m speaking from experience? It creates unnecessary stress for the brand, or partnership coordinator who has presented the list of influencers to their marketing team, with contracts signed and the influencers is unable to deliver. It’s simply unprofessional.

Someone Who is Transparent

Make sure you’re upfront with the brand. If you’ve had a different brand reach out regarding a collaboration and they’re in a similar category, check with the brand. If you don’t, post the content. The brands keep an eye out for these things. It leaves a distaste in their mouth. They know that you’re trying to make money off your brand but also they see it as not be transparent. On the other hand, letting the brand know and still post the partnership even though they advised you against it. Yeah, that’s a major “no, no”.

I hope this post sheds a little light on what brands look for when scoping out potential bloggers to partner with. If you have any questions, feel free to send them my way.

I seriously cannot believe it has been so long since I've written a blog post. I continuously ask myself why I haven't been writing. And to sum it up shortly, it's something I've pushed to the wayside and have let other things take priority. And that's okay, even though I'm always beating myself up for not taking the time to write. If we're being honest, I sit in front of a computer all day so I'm not always in the mood to sit in front of one at night as well.

But I thought I would take some time to share what I've been up to this summer. I can't believe we're almost half way through July, I wish summer would slow down...just a little. Weekends have been filled with lots of time outside, shoots, and time with friends.

Let's see if I can summarize it a few short paragraphs. In the beginning of May, my brother graduated from high school and will be heading to my alma mater, Bellarmine University, at the end of the month. My birthday was two weekends ago and a few of my girlfriends made their way into town. We had a blast sipping drinks at The Robey Chicago and then grabbing brunch the next morning at Milk & Honey Cafe which is a short walk from my apartment.

This coming weekend I'll be making my way up to Madison, Wisconsin to visit my sister and see her new apartment. Then next month I'll be heading to Europe with Rob and her sister for a trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy then off to Poland for an authentic polish wedding -- I'm so excited. Now I just need to get organized for the trip and find some authentic places to go.

Hiiiii. I know it's been way too long since I've written a post and for that there's good reason! There's been a few changes in my life, some good, some not so good and I haven't really had the time to reflect. Nor have I really had the chance to take time for myself. BUT that is all about to change because I've officially moved into the city.

What does this mean exactly?

No more grueling commutes to the city and no more looking like a bag lady at all times (it's the little things guys).

I'll take some photos and share with you soon. It's fun being able to decorate my own space. Not saying I didn't while I lived at home. But it's different when it's in your own apartment. You don't feel like your shacking at someone else's house until further notice.

Oh also fun little bit of news I'm working on expanding my photography business. I've locked down a few engagement sessions (which I've never done before but I'm so excited about) and a few new bloggers. This week I'm taking the plunge and buying a new camera body. It's definitely a slurge and not exactly the best timing (with the move and all) but it will only help grow my business. So I'm super stoked about that.

Let's be real, it's hard to stay motivated during the winter months. You're cold, you don't want to go outside you just want to stay inside in your bed all day. Lately I've been finding myself falling over track...